Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 review – J7 is better

Samsung had already launched the Galaxy J5 2016 and the J7 2016, both these handsets are powered by different hardware, the J7 2016 no doubt is better that the J5 2016. Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 price in India is Rs. 13,990. Read the review to know more.

J5 2016 unboxing

Inside the box : Handset, user manual, warranty card, data cable, standard quality earphone, travel charger 5V/1.55A and removable battery of 3100 mAh capacity. SAR value 0.306 W/Kg Head.

Design, Display and OS

The J5 2016 is a trimmed down version of J7 2016, it is also using a metal frame with diamond style finishing and the back panel is made of plastic with metallic texture that looks great. J5 2016 weight is 157 grams with battery and dimensions are 72.71 x 145.77 x 8.27 (mm).

Build quality and finishing is very good. Power button is on the right side, volume rocker on the left and at the bottom there is primary mic, micro USB port and audio jack.

This is a dual SIM handset you need two micro SIM cards and there is a separate micro SD card slot (128GB max).

There is no LED notification. J5 2016 is loaded with 2 sensors – accelerometer and proximity. Light sensor is missing.

This smartphone sports a 5.2 inch screen – it’s a super AMOLED screen with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. Viewing angles, color reproduction and touch response are very good.

J5 2016 is running Android Marshmallow 6.0.1.

Memory and Storage

This handset comes with 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM + 128GB micro SD support. On the first boot you will get about 10GB free space and 900 to 1000 MB free RAM. OTG is supported. Apps are getting installed on internal storage.

J5 2016 Performance

Inside the hood its using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad core processor 64 bit clocked at 1.2GHz coupled with Adreno 306 GPU. Performance in general is smooth, battery temperature is under control – max temp I encountered was 37 degrees. However, when it comes to gaming the performance is not that smooth.

Benchmark

• Quadrant – 12136
• Antutu (64 bit) – 26638 | 3D score – 845
• Nenamark 2 – 53.3fps
• Internal storage Speed – Read (129MB/s), Write (79MB/s)
• Multi Touch – 10 Point

Gaming

I played Modern Combat 5 and Asphalt 8. MC5 was playable, I did not find the game lagging at initial levels but I guess at higher level it might lag. Asphalt 8 was not smooth in high visual quality mode, it did better in medium visual quality mode.

Galaxy J5 2016 Camera

There is a 13MP AF camera on the back with LED flash support and 5MP camera on the front with front LED flash support. Camera quality is above average, focusing was better but slow when compared with J7 2016. This handset can shoot FHD videos. Do check the sample images and videos at the end of this review.

Others

Loudspeaker sound is a lower when compared with Galaxy J7 2016. In call sound was pretty good. I did not face any network issues. 4G, WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth worked well. There is NFC you can use it with S-Bike mode.

Battery

A 3100 mAh removable battery powers up this handset. Battery life is very good you can expect 6 to 10 hours of non-stop moderate to heavy usage.

Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 Battery Performance (time / battery % drop / battery temperature).

• Running Benchmark app – 11 minutes / 3% / 36 degrees
• Played MC5 + Asphalt 8 – 17 minutes / 4% / 37 degrees
• FHD video playback with full brightness (WiFi /4G on) – 56 minutes / 9% / 34 degrees

It took me 1 hour 42 minutes to charge the handset using wall charger from 42% to 100%. For 0% to 100% it will take almost 3 hours.

Verdict

Samsung launched the J5 2016 and the J7 2016, there is a minor price difference, and of course the hardware is different. If you are planning to buy the Samsung J series then the J7 2016 is a much better option.

Rating : 3 out of 5

Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 price in India is Rs. 13,990.

Image Gallery

Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 video review

Galaxy J5 2016 rear camera sample

Front camera sample

FHD sample video shot using J5 2016